Highlanders Academy? What is an academy?

Highlanders Football Club of Zimbabwe held an Annual General Meeting in which it was claimed the Chairman, Peter Dube refuted the claims that there is an institution called the Highlanders Academy. Whether it was a response to a raised issue or putting the record straight, it is interesting that the issue has nine lives.

In South Africa, any youth clubs and structures are referred to as development sides, while the northern neighbours call it juniors. Around the world, it is plain youth development. Whatever the case, many develop these structures under the main clubs as feeder operations to the senior teams that play in different levels of the local leagues.

Before the tenure of Dube, Themba Ndlela sourced the expertise of youth development program from overseas. The First Sports Mobile Academy of Canada partnered with Highlanders junior development in a venture that was named the Highlanders Academy. It turned out it was not registered as such, but the project was in progress.

For political mileage, this has been used to throw eggs at the face of others instead of working for the good of the club. For starters, many sought the definition of the ‘academy’. Others shot the idea down as a fraud. In many ways, the arguments for and against the academy bordered around misinformation and ignorance.

The unrealistic expectations were that the institution to be labeled an academy, a few things needed to be in place. Zimbabwe has their standards which are guided by Fifa. Fifa leaves much leeway for the national association to register and monitor these. All the details rest with, in their case, Zimbabwe Football Association.

Without questioning the integrity of that association, as an example, their rules may be massaged to favour a certain structure or institution. In 2012, I tried to shed light of what an academy is, according to Fifa.

Fifa expects an academy to recruit junior players, house them in dormitories, feed and school them. It means that there should be enough buildings, training grounds and qualified teachers. In the event that the minors come from very far or another political territory, the academy must transport and house the parents as well.

Without losing track of the Chairman’s statement that there is no Highlanders Academy but Highlanders Juniors, it all depends on the context and the actual reason why he had to bring that up.

Junior development is a general youth and talent nurturing. Many want to ponder on the differences between the two. An academy is a professional way of developing talent as compared to anyone or institution trying to do the same. The equipment and manpower is one aspect that separates the two.

Given the professionalism involved, the academy then assumes a certain shape and direction in terms of planning and approach. A thorough analysis of the views, objectives and vision get outlines as a philosophy.

The culture of the institution is meant to has to be maintained from the under 8 age-group going up. The common problem is that the senior teams usually get experienced coaches who have philosophies that differ from the academy, but life goes on in that case. The academies and clubs do not change their culture and philosophy to suit the coaches as they are usually passers-by.

Training methods match the traditions of the club with the common aim to be best. Achieving that is variable. As an example, some traditions and philosophies may include the fact that the ball must be moved around with pace and on the ground. The other may be that the ball must move from one end of the pitch to the other with minimum time and touch – the long ball.     

I think many of these things are available at Highlanders but the Chairman and a few people want to call them something else. When it comes to infrastructure and registration with Zifa, it becomes another issue.

Actually, the registration is just $1500.00. An issue alluded to the Chairman is that the set-up was not in the interest of the club. That is despite rumours that the paperwork is spot-on and players are contracted. Just in case that is not true, that paperwork will need the same legal team that worked with them. The Highlanders lawyers remain the same over the tenure of all chairmen.

Zifa will or may make other demands that Bosso may fail to meet to be registered as an academy. One thing for sure, all the issues highlighted in terms of Fifa are but decoratory. For starters, it is only Real Madrid, Ajax and maybe Barcelona meeting the criteria of Fifa. Manchester City are the only club in England in the process of building an institution that will accommodate 120 players. There is no one else.

Just as an example of how other academies work, let us look at Aston Villa, and this is typical. Players come from the local vicinity. The attend school and then go to play football in the afternoon. Depending, many attend school three times a week and the other days, they play football and Aston Villa arranges tutors for the missed classes.

This means that Villa has to liaise with schools and give the students the material they must be studying. It can be twice and once a week. There may be times that the players miss other lessons, in which case Villa makes arrangements. Again, if Villa find a new recruit further away for convenient commuting, they must find a accommodation for the player and his parents close by, as well as the school. The academy pays for their upkeep and fees.

The English regulation requires a certain distance from the academy to the point of residence of the player. In cases where it is not so convenient to transport and house the player, say from around Manchester, Villa can try to see if there is a similar situation that clubs in that country have. If the players match each other’s capability in a way that a compromise can be reached, they swap the players in some sort of deal.

As one can see, the deal can involve just training without transfer, but the problem here is that the philosophies may not match. Usually it would be a permanent arrangement, maybe for some time with some clauses.

One of the most important things to note here is the age of the players in question. At 8 to 12, many things can be overlooked because the players are too young. Many teams do not commit much in such cases because at or after puberty, the player personality change and the players may even decide they do not want to pursue football as a career. Much care is taken in investing in these players.

The Highlanders set-up has the capacity to do most of that, if registered through Zifa and there are no vultures to seek political mileage in shooting down an idea because it was seeded by the Ndlela administration. That cheap politicking seems to be rearing its ugly head far too often and it may cost individuals some elections.

Care must be taken to understand that many clubs already to take care and manage the players’ football, academic and social activities. The stakeholders have to be parents and school and again, something Bosso has done before and can still do. This was regardless whether the structure was labeled an academy or not.

The sudden excitement to refute that label and the haste to dissociate with the possibility of such is interesting. The ignorant trying to enlighten the blind catalyse the decay process threatening to divide the club into fanatical factionalism, a farce synonymous with Dynamos of Harare.

Whatever induced the subject, one would like to believe the prudence and integrity of the chairman is not dragged into the mud. He may have a great plan and vision, but trying to fight the definition of the development program is a minor part of his mandate. With or without his explanation, the value of his role and function is not dented. He has the support of many people for a sterling job done last season.

Many had wanted to believe that his administration did not savour inheriting the coach signed by his predecessors, and that he also wants to shed the ‘academy tag’ away. Mr. Dube is not so small.

He may not need to know that the youth development as an academy means a thorough approach in nurturing the juniors and a professional attitude in dealing with the parents, Zifa and the players, but that is what Bosso has always been done. As chairman, he can always choose the name that sounds sweet to his ears, or to the rest of those who raise the issue at the fall of the hat.

Whether there is a plan in place to make things better or not, it is not clear. Any further plan that the club can have on junior development easily qualifies as an academy as long there is funds to meet the criterion set by the national association. The rest of the issues are just academic and the executive committee may waste their time and energy trying to rename the project as, say Centre of Excellence, in which case, the electorate does not have to waste time and energy voting for a crew that will lose time and focus disputing that naming and its definitions.

If the arguments are to meet the Fifa standards, something Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea cannot match, then it is an issue that will hinge on the expenses until maybe Aspire of Qatar can take over the club. Potential sponsors will have issues with the kindergarten bickering that wastes wind. It could be that the current regime does not want to work with FSMA because, again, they had a relationship with the previous leadership. No one would like to think that the leaders can be that childish. I believe the club will be looking for funds to do everything in their power to register an institution that is in the interest of the club and not themselves as individuals.

That Highlanders Football Club Annual General Meeting came and went without much fuss, with the acknowledgement of the supporters association as well as mapping the way forward for the club. This will be followed by the Vice-Chairman and Treasurer elections are on next week at the Club House. A lot of people handed their nomination papers for both posts.

South Africa, Carpe Verde through; Morocco and Angola out

South Africa conceded in the 9^th minute due to poor defensive work from a corner-kick by Morocco. Two defenders sandwiching an attacker and both failed to make contact with the ball. Itumeleng Khune is as tall as the scorer and a foot taller with extended arms but he had bad take-off and poor judgment coupled with a mistimed jump to fist the ball away.

There were a few free-headers from corners after that. Bafana failed to combat competitively in midfield, that unit being caught on the wrong side of the ball more often. The Moroccans utilised their speed in those transitions to counter-attack.

The body shapes and player distribution became unbalanced and there were many North Africans unmarked in dangerous areas. The midfield cohesion and support was a little inadequate. This overloaded the defense.

The most contentious issue with the whole defensive behaviour of the team was lack of anticipation. Bafana Bafana failed to get to the ball first, save for Furman. Furman’s ball control, passing and general composure dictated the pace in midfield for the hosts. His maturity proves why he is the captain of Oldham Athletic.

The attacking unit was as guilty, even their inter-passing play. The general lack of patience on the ball going forward saw the launching of long balls to Katlego Mphela and Tokelo Rantie. The tussle for the 50-50 balls drained much energy off the front two resulting in poor co-ordination between the two.

Morocco seemed content with the single goal as they realised further attacks exposed their defence. Thuso Phala was on song pulling the strings on the right hand flank.  

It must be said that Bafana were the vicitms of questionable officiating -  firstly with penalty opportunities denied and wrong offside calls. Itumeleng Khune had to make the best saves of the tournament more than twice.

May Mahlangu complemented Furman later in the match, his efforts being rewarded by a classy equaliser with 20 minutes on the clock remaining. It was his interplay with Bernard Parker after a Siyabonga Sangweni venture upfront that created a chance to curl the ball around the forest of defenders past the goalkeeper.

A lapse in concentration in defence presented Morocco with an easy goal through six pairs of legs. Sangweni had the last laugh as he ventured forward once more, latching onto a through ball by    to fake a first time shot and then playing two touches to bend the ball around the goalie delicately. It was a classic finish by any standards and coming from a central defender.

The Cerpe Verde beat Angola by 2-1 to qualify alongside South Africa and Ivory Coast to the quarter-finals. Morocco and Angola joined Algeria on the elimination list.   

Ivory Coast qualify as Togo eliminates Algeria

Yaya Toure did not need my endorsement to pull off a coup, in a match in which Gevinho was man-of-the-match and Didier Drogba started from the bench. The three-gun salute handed to the Tunisians followed the four goal salvo we saw 24 hours ago when Burkina Faso blasted Ethiopia.

The African Footballer of the Year does not need me as a fan, but nonetheless, he is making good progress in impressing me. I don't doubt his quality but the problem is me. A few flashes of tactical awareness as well as unquestioned individual brilliance did not convince me that Africans can compete outside their sphere of influence.

There were pockets of good decision-making, obviously a result of the experience these players gained in the Barclays English Premier League and the French League. Where decisions were bad, the execution of technique cancelled matters out, given the opposition did not capitalise to punish the wrong decisions.

It was a solid and round performance by African standards, but still lacked the tactical maturity of the game at national levels. Tunisia had hoped to steal something out of the match with Drogba benched.

The former Chelsea cult hero came on and nearly registered his first 2013 Afcon goal. He proved a thorn as his presence led to that Yaya goal after Gervinho had short the Elephants ahead in the first half, and when Tiote scored with his first touch after coming on, it was a master stroke.

Algeria huffed and puffed firing blanks as they have done in their build-up to the tournament, as well as the 2010 Fifa World Cup. I cannot remember the last time they hit the net in a tournament. Their adversaries, Togo, started slowly, sizing up their way up.

The Togolese always played the inaccurate long ball, which was spot on just on one occasion and Emmanuel Adebayour punished them, beating the goalkeeper on a one versus one.

It was a basic route one football, a long ball from the back and then a ping-pong heading tennis from Adebayour to  Romao onhis left and then to Adebayour’s path. The tall Tottenham Hotspur striker outpaced the defender and slotted the ball under advancing goalie.

A physical battle in midfield ensued and that brutality led to several claims by the North Africans for penalties. The referees did not bow down to pressure. Algeria forced their way into the final third often but failed to direct the final pass or the shots.

As the attack swarmed the Togolese penalty area, it seemed the desperate attempts would yield something for the Algerians but it was vain attempts. It was until the drama of the broken goalpost that stole the show in the last five minutes.

The upright post broke at the base and the wobbling posts and nets had to be replaced, though it took far too long. To add unsolicited drama, the match officials played the five minutes and then added thirteen more minutes.

That gave Togo one more counter-attacking opportunity. A through pass from the centre circle was chased by substitute Wome, who had a few touches and slotted the ball once again, under the advancing goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

The Algerians became the first team to be eliminated while the Ivoirians were the first to qualify with their 100% records each.

Chipolopolo booking their early ticket home

As the Afcon champions, Zambia have placed themselves in a perfect spot to fail the defence of their title. A 1-1 draw with Nigeria stamped their departure date as the last day of the group stages, soon after their encounter with Burkina Faso.

Chipolopolo may buy time by netting a handsome tally against the ‘upright men’, the Burkinabe.  This is given, as all might have noticed the naivety of the fluent and free-flowing Ethiopians. The North Eastern nation plays well going forward, but their central midfield and central defence leak like a sieve.

Not that they leak, but are too confident, to the detriment of their overall performance. Nigerian will steam roll over them, especially if Steven Keshi is brave enough to field his fringe players who have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

The Zambian predicament is worsened by the one foot Burkina Faso has in the quarter-final after crushing Ethiopia 4-0. That score-line will be a confident booster and the physical West Africans will push the champions to the maximum.

By the same token, Ethiopia have no desire to play anymore and while that lack of pressure may be lethal, it will be wise to play them with a motivated side of fringe players who have a point to prove to the Nigerian population.

As of now, The Burkinabe and the Super Eagles are through, unless the former give it away in a silver platter.